"The French are on edge, we have a duty of vigilance and responsibility," insists Emmanuel Macron.
The warning takes place Wednesday in the middle of the health defense council.
At a time when new restrictive measures must be found in the face of the looming third wave, the president fears the psychological impact.
So he's looking for a third way.
Hence the announcements of the following evening by Jean Castex and this slogan of “brake without locking up” imagined by Macron himself.
“His fear is that the country will turn into a pressure cooker, that things are going everywhere.
He can see the polls on the morale of the French, the distress of restaurateurs, cinemas, not to mention young people, ”said a minister.
A final point that the Head of State is monitoring even acutely.
"Students, who have been given the opportunity to return one day a week face-to-face, must always be able to do so," he said Wednesday during the council.
"We must go further on mental health"
Everyone around him agrees: the issue of mental health must be taken seriously.
"We must not let the depression set in", alert this Sunday Olivier Véran, in our newspaper.
The subject will also be discussed this Monday in Matignon, during a meeting led by Castex.
“We are speeding up the vaccination campaign, we are shifting the curfew by one hour, we are easing the access rules in nursing homes, etc.
It is also a way, in a crisis, to free spirits as much as possible.
But we must go further on mental health, “admits the entourage of the Prime Minister, who promises concrete measures very quickly.
Among the avenues, the management of stress in teleworking, the isolation of the most precarious or the creation of a free aid system for psychological support.
Véran, for his part, intends to push his idea of training in first aid in mental health in the company and at the university.
It could, according to our information, see the light of day by June.
"What worries me is this deep loss of confidence"
At the top of the State, the subject is followed very closely.
With the desire for Macron that the country does not fall into disaster.
For the past few weeks, when he is on the move, he himself takes care to take the pulse of the people he meets.
" Hello, how are you ?
The morale is good ?
»He asks on February 11, traveling to a factory near Nantes.
When others in the government are working to unravel the ambient skepticism, despite the period: “What worries me is this deep loss of confidence.
We are more and more fascinated by what does not work, without looking at our successes, ”asks Olivia Grégoire, the Secretary of State in charge of the Social, Solidarity and Responsible Economy.
She cites pell-mell learning "which has never been so high", the development of electric vehicles "of which France is at the forefront", the recent Nobel Prize for architecture awarded to the French Anne Lacaton.
And the Elysée shifts to French growth in 2021 which will be higher than forecasts according to the Banque de France.
"It is rather good news", insists a close friend of Macron who swears: "Beyond the postures of our opponents, the reality of the facts will plead for us.
»Enough to boost the morale of the troops?
“In the immediate future, not sure, deplores another adviser.
Especially after the Mi'kmaq of certificates since this weekend, and the new recommendation to no longer receive at home in the departments affected by the new measures ... There, we finish everyone.
"